VOLNAY PREMIER CRU`ROBARDELLE`

VOLNAY PREMIER CRU
"ROBARDELLE" 2018

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2022 2023

Grape variety

100% Pinot Noir.

Tasting notes

Colour: Deep ruby colour.
Bouquet: Nose of red and black fruits, especially red cherries with toasted hints of coffee and spices.
Palate: Full attack good structure. Aromas of raspberry, candied fruits and spices. Present ripe tannins. Full mouth with good length of red cherries.

Wine and food pairing

Will be perfect with a warm Mont d’Or cheese and Morteau sausage, feathered game, steak tartare, guinea fowl with a turnip bake, pan-fried Brussels sprouts with bacon or a tender piece of Tome cheese from Savoie.

Serving temperature

Drink ideally at a temperature of 14 to 16°C. (57-60°F.).

Ageing potential

In good storage conditions it will age patiently for 8 to 10 years.

Origin

The village of Volnay lies to the south of Pommard, between two hills that protect it from the wind, on one of the highest points of the Côte de Beaune in Burgundy.

The vineyard covers 215 hectares (144 of which are Premiers Crus); in Volnay, there is no Grand Cru but 26 Premier Crus. The vineyards are planted on an extremely fine subsoil composed of Argovian limestone marl and, in the area bordering Pommard and Meursault, Bathonian clay-limestone scree. The altitude ranges from 230 to 370 metres.

The name "Robardelle" is thought to come from the location of this Premier Cru, not far from the old Roman road and the quarries where highwaymen (robarts) could make a quick getaway.

Vinification and maturing

The grapes are harvested by hand and sorted manually on arrival at the winery. 100% of the grapes were de-stemmed. Vinification of 20 days in thermos regular tanks. Cold maceration for 6 days at 8°C. (46°F.). Nine days of fermentation with punching twice a day during the fermentation at a temperature of 30°C. (86°F.). Ageing in Burgundian oak barrels of 228 litres for 12 to 15 months and with 30% new oak barrels.

Vintage : 2018

A capricious spring, subject to frosts and alternating times of sunshine and storms on an almost daily basis from May to the mid-June, making this period particularly stressful for our people in the vineyards.

Then came an incredible time of nice weather, hot, very hot and even heatwave periods until the end of… October!

Another particular vintage which looks like no other! As rainfalls episodes were particularly localized, we had to deal with very different degree of ripeness from a plot to another, depending of the water volume received by each vineyard.

In 2018, as in other French wine region, quality and quantity were very satisfactory on our whole vineyard and were are very pleased with the quality of the vinified juices currently ageing in 228 L. Burgundian barrels in our cellars.

Harvest took place on our vineyards between the end of August (27th) and the 18th of September under a hot and persistent autumn sun. Even if the weather was very nice, the harvest period was very long and demanding in the vineyards as well as in the winery, due to the particularly different stages of ripeness. This is, without doubt, what one will retain from this harvest: so different ripeness degrees and so very different harvesting time from a village to another and even from a parcel to another in the same vineyard!

White wines were mostly harvested first in order to keep a nice acidity on this particularly solar vintage.

Reds, in their purple violine dress, early augured a rich and powerful vintage.

VOLNAY PREMIER CRU"ROBARDELLE" 2018